Fact #156418
When:
Short story:
John Fogerty is cleared of plagiarism, following a bizarre lawsuit in which Fantasy Records claimed that Fogerty's 1985 US Top Ten single The Old Man Down The Road plagiarised the 1970 song Run Through The Jungle (which Fogerty himself had written while a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival).Full article:
In the early 1960’s, Saul Zaentz was a humble employee of Fantasy Records in San Francisco, California, USA. Then, in 1967, having saved up some pennies, he bought the label and encouraged the label’s most promising band, The Golliwogs, to change their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival
Right from the start, Creedence leader John Fogerty should have seen the writing on the wall. Although Fogerty had done the work, Zaentz credited himself as producer of the very first Creedence album, claiming that it was a mere technicality - a signal to the industry that Fantasy Records had a new boss.
The new boss had also signed the band to a very restrictive contract, of which Fogerty remembers “Zaentz promised us that he would tear up the contract as soon as we had our first hit.” After their fifth US hit, Green River, Fogerty confronted Zaentz about the contract, only to learn that Zaentz had evidently changed his mind - the old contract would remain in force.
“In a sense, I had everything I created stolen from me,” fumed Fogerty. “Everything Saul did thwarted my creativity. I was chained to his command.”
Even when Creedence split up in 1972, Fogerty was legally bound to Fantasy for a staggering eight more albums on a pathetic royalty rate. The Creedence mainman weasled his way out of the contract by recording his debut solo album under the pseudonym, The Blue Ridge Rangers. “I knew it would never be any good,” he explained later, “therefore it won’t sell records, and they won’t make any money off me. It was as perverse as that.”
The strategy worked, the record bombed, and Fantasy freed him to record for Asylum, but that old contract still dogged him. When Fogerty released his 1985 album, Centerfield, Zaentz was apparently so infuriated by the inclusion of two songs about him, Mr Greed and Zanz Kant Danz, that he decided to sue the pantz off Fogerty. His chosen battle ground was another track on the album, The Old Man Down The Road, which was very similar to an early Creedence track called Run Through The Jungle.
Because of the 1968 contract, although Fogerty had written both songs, Zaentz still owned the copyright on Run Through The Jungle. Fogerty found himself in the bizarre position of being sued to the tune of $142m for writing something which sounded too much like one of his own songs.
The case waded its way through the courts and the murky waters of contract law until, on 7 November 1998, a jury found in Fogerty’s favour on the matter of copyright, but obliged him to pay a substantial sum to Saul Zaentz for the remarks in Mr Greed and Zaentz Kant Dantz.
For years, Fogerty refused even to sing his old Creedence songs live on stage because, if ever he did so, Zaentz would have collected publishing royalties.
Saul Zaentz went on to become a major Hollywood player, having produced One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient. Fogerty still doesn’t own his old songs but, during a 1991 visit to the grave of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson in Mississippi, “The thought went through my mind that his songs are probably owned by some guy in a big building in Manhattan, but that’s not the point. What’s important is the songs, the music … I am the spiritual owner of the songs, regardless of what tall building they ended up in.”
At last, Fogerty was able to come to terms with his loss. “The animosity isn’t resolved,” he says now, “but I’m turning my back on it and saying it’s time to look forward.”
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Right from the start, Creedence leader John Fogerty should have seen the writing on the wall. Although Fogerty had done the work, Zaentz credited himself as producer of the very first Creedence album, claiming that it was a mere technicality - a signal to the industry that Fantasy Records had a new boss.
The new boss had also signed the band to a very restrictive contract, of which Fogerty remembers “Zaentz promised us that he would tear up the contract as soon as we had our first hit.” After their fifth US hit, Green River, Fogerty confronted Zaentz about the contract, only to learn that Zaentz had evidently changed his mind - the old contract would remain in force.
“In a sense, I had everything I created stolen from me,” fumed Fogerty. “Everything Saul did thwarted my creativity. I was chained to his command.”
Even when Creedence split up in 1972, Fogerty was legally bound to Fantasy for a staggering eight more albums on a pathetic royalty rate. The Creedence mainman weasled his way out of the contract by recording his debut solo album under the pseudonym, The Blue Ridge Rangers. “I knew it would never be any good,” he explained later, “therefore it won’t sell records, and they won’t make any money off me. It was as perverse as that.”
The strategy worked, the record bombed, and Fantasy freed him to record for Asylum, but that old contract still dogged him. When Fogerty released his 1985 album, Centerfield, Zaentz was apparently so infuriated by the inclusion of two songs about him, Mr Greed and Zanz Kant Danz, that he decided to sue the pantz off Fogerty. His chosen battle ground was another track on the album, The Old Man Down The Road, which was very similar to an early Creedence track called Run Through The Jungle.
Because of the 1968 contract, although Fogerty had written both songs, Zaentz still owned the copyright on Run Through The Jungle. Fogerty found himself in the bizarre position of being sued to the tune of $142m for writing something which sounded too much like one of his own songs.
The case waded its way through the courts and the murky waters of contract law until, on 7 November 1998, a jury found in Fogerty’s favour on the matter of copyright, but obliged him to pay a substantial sum to Saul Zaentz for the remarks in Mr Greed and Zaentz Kant Dantz.
For years, Fogerty refused even to sing his old Creedence songs live on stage because, if ever he did so, Zaentz would have collected publishing royalties.
Saul Zaentz went on to become a major Hollywood player, having produced One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient. Fogerty still doesn’t own his old songs but, during a 1991 visit to the grave of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson in Mississippi, “The thought went through my mind that his songs are probably owned by some guy in a big building in Manhattan, but that’s not the point. What’s important is the songs, the music … I am the spiritual owner of the songs, regardless of what tall building they ended up in.”
At last, Fogerty was able to come to terms with his loss. “The animosity isn’t resolved,” he says now, “but I’m turning my back on it and saying it’s time to look forward.”